1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the implant of prosthetic joints and pertains, more specifically, to the preparation of the distal femur for the implant of a femoral knee prosthesis, utilizing a minimal number of individual instruments to assist in establishing the surfaces necessary for locating and securing the prosthesis in place on the femur.
2. Description of the Related Art
The implant of a prosthetic knee joint requires that the distal femur be prepared to receive the femoral component of the knee prosthesis by cutting the bone of the femur to establish accurately located surfaces against which the femoral knee prosthesis will rest upon implant of the prosthesis. Various guide components are available to the surgeon for assisting in determining the appropriate size of the femoral knee prosthesis to be implanted and for guiding a saw blade during use of the saw blade to make the cuts which establish the desired surfaces for effecting the implant. These guide components usually are located and secured upon the distal femur to provide sizing information and to place guide surfaces at appropriate locations and orientation for guiding the saw blade during the execution of a transversely directed distal femoral cut, an axially directed anterior femoral cut, an axially directed posterior femoral cut, an anterior chamfer and a posterior chamfer. Currently available guide components usually require a series of separate guide components secured sequentially to the distal femur to determine sizing and to accomplish the various cuts. Since it is desirable that all of the necessary sizing and cuts be established as quickly as possible, concomitant with safety and accuracy, it would be advantageous to have available a femoral preparation instrumentation system and method which enables all of the required sizing steps and cuts to be executed fully and completely with a minimal number of guide components.